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Irish Economy 2012: Against a backdrop of a mild recession in Europe, a knock-on impact on the UK and a weak recovery in the US, coupled with fiscal retrenchments domestically and across Europe, the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) forecasts today that Ireland's GDP (gross domestic product) will expand by 0.9% this year. GNP (gross national product - - a measure that compared with GDP mainly reflects the exclusion of the profits of the foreign-owned sector) will fall by 0.6% in 2012. In 2013, GDP is expected to rise by 2.3% and GNP by 1%. The economists say 'austerity' is absolutely necessary in Ireland but when applied across the Eurozone, it is self-defeating.